Trade Policy Formation in Europe: Disparities Between the EU-15 States and the CEE New Member States

Bettiga, Beau
(2016)
Trade Policy Formation in Europe: Disparities Between the EU-15 States and the CEE New Member States.
Undergraduate thesis,
under the direction of Susan Allen from
Political Science,
University of Mississippi.

Abstract

Trade preference formation has been the deciding factor in the process of creating and reforming the Common Agricultural Policy. The process of reforming the policy created a discrepancy between the benefits received by the original European Union-15 member states and the late accession central and eastern European new member states. This paper analyses how trade preferences have shaped the reforms of the CAP and how the CAP has been poorly implemented in the late accession states. Poland will be used a case study to analyze how the CAP has been poorly formed in regards to late accession states’ needs because the diverse agricultural structure in Poland can demonstrate several interesting challenges the late accession states faced when implementing the CAP. The project found that the CAP was poorly implemented in Poland because direct payments to farmers were being used for consumption needs and not additional investment, the additional measures included in the policy to encourage sustainable farming and rural development forced Poland to invest money in nonproduction-stimulating measures, and Poland and other late accession states did not have the administrative capacity to implement the complex measures of the CAP effectively.